


Tangere

by kuro



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Barber Shop, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-06
Updated: 2014-10-06
Packaged: 2018-02-20 03:50:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2413946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuro/pseuds/kuro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony owns a barber shop. Steve comes in to get his hair cut. </p><p>Ulterior motives might be involved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Barber Shop

“Welcome to Tony’s Barber Shop! I’ll be with you in a minute!” Tony shouts when he hears the bell above the door ring. The greeting is reflexive by now; he doesn’t even have to think about it after three years of owning this shop.

When he comes out of the backroom after getting the shampoo refill he was looking for, a new customer is waiting for him. The young man is standing close to the door indecisively, as if he didn’t quite dare to step into the shop. The first thing Tony notices is how skinny and rather poorly dressed he is, but his hair has a beautiful shade of gold. And well, Tony is all about hair.

“Welcome,” Tony repeats again. “You’re lucky, I’m free right now. Hop onto one of the chairs and we can get started immediately. Haircut?”

The skinny guy hesitates for a moment, but then he strips off his oversized jacket, carefully hangs it up on the close rack next to the entrance and walks over to one of the three currently empty hairdresser’s chairs.

“Yes,” the guy says once he has awkwardly sat down, sounding a little nervous. “I wanted to try something new.”

“You’ve come to the right guy, then,” Tony assures him. “I’ll make sure you look fantastic. The name’s Tony, by the way.”

“I figured,” the guy says with a small smile. “I’m Steve.”

Steve. A pretty average name, but it fits him.

“Okay, Steve,” Tony smiles back, running his fingers through Steve’s hair experimentally. Good structure, taken care of, healthy. Tony is proud. “Any preferences?”

“I… I thought I’d leave that up to you,” Steve mumbles, the tips of his ears turning a little red.

“Oh, a brave soul,” Tony intones dramatically, making Steve laugh a little. “I promise you won’t regret that.”

He starts with washing Steve’s hair, and while his scalp massage skills are supreme, he might not always be quite as enthusiastic about it as he is today. He washes Steve’s hair thoroughly and carefully, making sure he gets all the tangles out. Steve keeps his eyes closed during the whole procedure, which is lucky, because Tony spends a lot of time staring into that really quite pretty face (he can see that now that he got a closer look). He also notices that Steve has very, very nice eyelashes. Long and thick and just lovely.

Once he’s finished with washing Steve’s hair and has gently dabbed him with a towel, he starts with actually cutting the hair. He doesn’t change too much, really. The cut Steve has had before suited him quite well, all he needs is a slightly more modern approach.

Tony could do a cut like that in under fifteen minutes, he’s a pro after all, but instead, he takes his time. He savours every trim with his favourite scissors, running his fingers through that beautiful hair over and over again, sometimes brushing his fingers a little against Steve’s ears. It makes Steve, who is quiet otherwise, shiver a little every time it happens. Tony has to reign in a vicious grin.

After a rather long while, Tony begrudgingly has to admit that he is finished with the cut and can’t possibly delay any longer. A little regretfully, he takes out the blow-dryer and starts drying Steve’s hair.

“So, tell me, Steve,” he asks conversationally, running another hand through Steve’s hair, just because he can. “How long have you had a crush on me already?”

Steve immediately turns a blazing red and slaps his hands in front of his face.

“Hey, no, it’s cute,” Tony placates him, quickly turning off the blow-dryer. “I was thinking we could go out for a coffee sometimes. If you… if you want to, that is.”

“Really?” Steve asks in a wobbly voice after a few seconds of embarrassed silence. He’s still blushing like mad, but he also peeks through his fingers with a heartbreakingly hopeful expression.

“Really,” Tony assures him with a grin. “Anything to get my hands on your hair again.”

Steve tries to look offended, but it fails horribly because he is unable to keep a glowing smile off his face.

(And Tony has to concede that Steve’s hair is not the only thing he’d like to get his hands on, really.)


	2. The Date

Tony is _not_ nervous and excited about his little coffee date with Steve. Not at all. That’s really not the reason why he gets up earlier than usual this morning and hops into the shower without getting coffee first. It’s also not the reason why he is humming a little melody under his breath when he gets out his shaving kit. No sir.

It’s routine, really, the daily procedure of grooming his signature van dyke. He lives his passion, there’s a good reason why he has gotten into hair dressing in the first place. It started with youthful curiosity and ended with an obsession and a mission.

Still humming, Tony generously applies shaving cream and checks himself in the mirror. He’s going to look great today (yes, he’s vain). He reaches for his trusty straight razor, starts shaving himself…

…and slips and nearly slices his own throat open.

Tony is absolutely mortified, not only because he almost succeeded in killing himself, but he’s a _professional_ , such a humiliating thing shouldn’t happen to him. And, worst of all, he has ruined his trademark. He cut part of the beard when he slipped, so now he has to shave everything off, unless he wants to look like a complete idiot. Tony does _not_ look good with only a moustache.

And now he needs to go to his date with a big band-aid on his face.

Tony kind of wants to crawl into a corner and hide for the next few weeks, or at least until his van dyke is back to its former glory.

*

Steve is already waiting for him at the café when Tony finally arrives. He doesn’t notice Tony right away, so Tony is able to quietly observe him for a short moment.

The new hair cut looks really good on Steve, even though he’s dressed in his usual vastly oversized clothes. What Tony notices this time, however, is that even though Steve is always wearing ill-fitting and clearly outdated clothing, everything looks well taken care of. He can also see that the clothing has been painstakingly mended in places, done so well that it’s hardly visible if you’re not looking for it.

The observation makes something in Tony’s heart stir. Steve is obviously a man that takes care of the things he owns. It’s… an unfamiliar feeling.

Steve finally notices Tony when he steps closer to the table Steve is waiting at. As expected, Steve does a double take, and Tony has to suppress the urge to cover the lower half of his face. He’s still embarrassed about his stupid mistake this morning, and he hasn’t walked around without a neatly trimmed beard for _years_. He feels naked.

But then, Steve beams at him and the smile is so honest and bright that Tony finds himself smiling back against his will.

“Hi,” Steve greets him with a nervous hitch in his voice as Tony sits down. “Are you okay?”

“The band-aid?” Tony asks, trying to sound casual. “It’s nothing, I just slipped a bit this morning.”

“That’s great,” Steve says, blushing a little. “You look good.”

“I have a baby face,” Tony complains reflexively, pulling a face. He really does, and growing a beard has improved it about 200%. He wants his van dyke back.

“I happen to like that face,” Steve comments with a nervous grin before he reaches out and touches Tony’s chin right next to the band-aid. His fingertips brush over the now smooth skin tenderly. “It’s a good face.”

Tony feels as if lightning has struck him right where Steve has touched his face, electricity running throughout his body. He flounders, unsure of how he should react. Was _this_ how Steve had felt when Tony was teasing him a little during the hair cut?

Luckily, he’s saved from further confusion by the waiter who has come to ask for their order. Tony insists that he is paying, so Steve should get whatever he wants. When Steve hears that, he gets a mulish expression on his face.

“I invited you,” Tony emphasises. “I’ll pay.”

“I was the one who bothered you in the first place,” Steve counters, stubborn written all over him. “I’ll pay.”

Tony rolls his eyes, because it’s not like he makes a habit of throwing dates at people left and right. He flirts like he breathes, yes, but that’s part of his job. He doesn’t own a very successful barber shop because he is rude to his customers (okay, he sometimes is, but only to the asshats). The way he treats them is half of the reason why they keep coming back.

Eventually, after a short squabble, they agree that Steve is going to pay this time and Tony is going to pay the next. (And if Steve considerably brightens when Tony casually mentions that he wants another date, that’s definitely a bonus. But if Steve thinks Tony isn’t going to bring him to the best place he can possibly find, he’s got another thought coming.)

They manage to order coffee and cake, and Tony discovers that Steve is an artist while they’re waiting for their order to arrive. It really fits him, Tony thinks, and the excited face Steve makes when he talks about art is rapidly becoming one of Tony’s new favourite things.

So are the small touches that Steve seems to do without even realising it. Whenever he wants to stress something, he lightly brushes his fingers over Tony’s hand. It makes Tony’s whole body tingle and his heart pound every time it happens.

If he was an honest person, he would have to admit by now that he already has the biggest crush on this man. Luckily, Tony is good at denial.

That, however, doesn’t stop him from making sure it happens around ten times more.

They discover their mutual love of snark and awful jokes, and after that, they kind of forget about the time. Hours pass by, but the two stay immersed into their own little world, forgetting about everything else.

Eventually, they’re rudely interrupted by the sudden beeping of Steve’s (extremely old and clunky) mobile phone. Steve suddenly realises that it’s already _really_ late and he needs to hurry to make it in time for his part-time job. So the two of them hastily grab their things, pay, and leave the café. When it’s time to part ways, though, they both hesitate, unsure of what to say or do.

Steve fidgets with the seam of his jacket and gives Tony another one of those damn slightly-shy-yet-hopeful smiles, and something in Tony’s chest twists violently. Before he knows what he’s doing, his hands are in Steve’s hair, petting and caressing, and he’s placing soft kisses on those smiling lips.

“ _You_ ,” he growls, incapable of expressing that almost painfully burning feeling inside his chest.

Steve makes a wretched noise, and then his hands are clutching Tony’s shirt and they’re kissing for real. It’s the best and most painful thing ever, it feels like soaring high in the sky and falling down onto the earth at the same time.

Steve finally draws back, his face flushed and his eyes sparkling, and he quickly pulls Tony down again to give him a kiss on the tip of his nose. Then he’s off with a breathless laugh, running to make up for lost time. Tony feels tempted to try and see if he can’t catch up.

But well, there’s always next time.

His heart keeps pounding all the way home.


End file.
